Poultry freezer tray



April 26; 1960 E. w. STOTZ 2,934,250

POULTRY FREEZER TRAY Filed Jan. 2?, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 J7me? 14/67021,

April 2 19 0 E. STOTZ 2,934,250

POULTRY FREEZER TRAY Filed Jan. 27, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 2 2/7716? 14/6102:

April 26, 1960 Filed Jan. 27. 1958 E. W. STOTZ I POULTRY FREEZER TRAY 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENroR. J7me? 14/ 6') v71,

I iinit POULTRY FREEZER TRAY Elmer W. Stotz, Monroe, Mich., assignor toRiver Raisin Paper Company, Monroe, Mich., a corporation of MichiganApplication January 27, 1958, Serial No. 711,399

9 Claims. (Cl. 229-6) The present invention relates to cardboardcontainers and more particularly, to improved containers WhlCh .may bereadily stacked while providing for circulation including a sheet ofdie-cut material folded and held in assembled relation without the needfor staples or other separate retaining means.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improvedcardboard container having posts disposed at the corners thereof whichextend above the wall portions intermediate the posts and are adapted tosupport additional similar containers so that the containers may bestacked while permitting the circulation of air through the containers.

It is a further object of the present invention to'provide an improvedcontainer of the above mentioned type adapted for use in supportingmaterial to be frozen such, for example, as poultry, and to which acover may be readily applied for suitably closing the container when itis removed from the freezer or when air circulation through thecontainer is no longer required.

Other and more detailed objects of the present invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of thefollowing specification, the appended claims and theaccompanying'drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a broken elevational view showing a stack of containersconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of one of the containers illustratedin Figure 1; V

Figure 3 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated inFigure 2, taken substantially along the line 33 thereof;

Figure 4 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated inFigure 2, taken substantially along the line 4--4 thereof;

Figure 5 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated inFigure 4, taken substantially along the line 55 thereof;

Figure 6 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated inFigure 4, taken substantially along the line 6-6 thereof;

Figure 7 is a plan view of a sheet of cardboard or other material afterbeing die-cut and scored ready for folding to form a part of thecontainer;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a sheet of cardboard or other material afterbeing die-cut and scored ready to be folded and combined with the sheetillustrated in Figure 7 to provide the container constructionillustrated in Figures 1 to 6, inclusive;

Figure 9 is a broken perspective view showing a portion of the containerand illustrating one stage in the folding of the sheet to form theassembled container;

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing the container with its cover inplace;

2,934,230 Patented Apr. 26, 1-960 Figure 11 is a plan view of acontainer constructed according to amodified form of the presentinvention;

Figure 12 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Figure 11,taken substantially along the line 12-12 thereof;

Figure 13 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated inFigure 11, taken substantially along the line iii-13 thereof;

Figure 14 is a perspective view showing the container illustrated inFigures 11 through 13, inclusive, with its cover in place;

Figure 15 is a broken perspective view of a portion of the containerillustrated in Figures 11 through 13, inclusive showing one stage of thefolding and assembly of the container;

Figure 16 is a plan view of a sheet of cardboard or other material afterbeing die-cut and scored ready to be folded to form the constructionillustrated in Figure 11; and,

Figure 17 is a plan view of a sheet of cardboard or other material afterbeing die-cut and which forms a part of the partition of the containerillustrated in Figure 11.

Referring, to the drawings, and particularly to Figure 8, the sheet 20there illustrated may be formed of solid or corrugated paperboard andhas been die-cut and scored preparatory to forming it to provide thecontainer 22 illustrated in Figures 1 through 9, inclusive. Thecontainer 22 illustrated in these figures also includes a reinforcingand partition sheet 24 illustrated in Figure 7 which is die-cut andscored preparatory to assembling with the sheet 20 in the formation ofthe container 22. The sheet 20 illustrated in Figure 8 includes a bottom26, end walls 28 at opposite ends thereof and separated therefrom byscore lines 30, and side walls 32 at-opposite sides thereof separatedtherefrom by score lines 34. Each side wall 32 has projections 36 atopposite ends thereof and has a pair of centrally disposed score lines38 disposed generally centrally of the sides 32 and extending betweenthe projections 36. and parallel to 'the score line 34 at which the side32 connects to the bottom 26. At the opposite ends of the side walls 32the projections 36 are provided with notches 37. Outwardly of the scorelines 38 are side wall portions 40, each of which has a centrallydisposed notch 42 and a pair of spaced locking projections 44. 7

Each end wall 28 has extensions 46 at opposite ends thereof andseparated therefrom by score lines 48, Each of the extensions 46 alsohas a locking projection 50 at its outer end and an aperture 52 ofsimilar size adjacent to-the score line 48. Also, at the side of eachextension 46 adjacent to the side walls 32 is a V-shaped notch 54. Fromthe inner end of the notch 54 a pair of score lines 56 extend parallelto the score line 48 to the opposite side of extension 46. Theextensions 46 also include, outwardly of the notch 54, a score line 58which extends acrossthe extension parallel to the lines 48 and 56, andanother score line 60 which extends from the inner end of the notch 54at right angles to the score lines 48, 56 and 58, outwardly to the outerend of the extension 46. The end walls 28 each have a pair of notches 62providing projections 64 at opposite ends thereof and co-operating withscore lines 66 extending between the inner'ends of the notches 62 andparallel to the score lines 30 at the connection of the end walls 28with the bottom 26 to define end wall portions 68. These end wallportions '6 8 and the end walls 28 are provided with hand grip aper;tures 70. The bottom 26 is die-cut to provide tabsf72 adjacent to thescore lines 30, the connection of the tabs 72 to the bottom being scoredas indicated at"7'4 In spaced relation to each corner of the bottomj26,the sheet 20 is provided with locking portions 76 formed by spacedparallel die-cuts 78 extending across the-score lines 30 and theopposite ends of which are connected by score lines 80.

Referring to Figure 7, the sheet 24 includes spaced bottom portions 82interconnected by a centrally disposed partition portion 84 defined bythree spaced parallel .t-ransver'sely extending score lines 86. Atopposite sides of the bottom portions 82, the sheet '24 has side wall,flanges 88 separated from the bottom portions 82 by score lines '90.Adjacent the score lines 90 the bottom portions 82 are provided withapertures 92.

To form the container illustrated in Figure 2, the sheet 24 illustratedin Figure 7 is folded along the score lines 86 and 90, the flanges 88being folded upwardly relative to the bottom sections 82 and the centralpartition portion 84 being folded to provide the double thicknesspartition 84 clearly illustrated in cross section in Figure 4. The sidewalls 32 of the sheet 20 illustrated in Figure 8 are folded upwardlyabout the score lines 34 and the folded sheet 24 is placed over thebottom 26 centrally between the ends thereof and with the flanges 88between and engaging the side walls 32. The side wall portions 40 arethen folded inwardly about the score lines 38 against the inner surfaceof the flanges 88 and the projections 44 on the side wall portions 40are moved into the apertures 92, thus securely holding the bottomreinforcing and partition sheet 24 in place. The partition 84 isreceived in the notches 42 to securely hold the sheet 24 againstmovement longitudinally relative to the sheet 20. The extensions 46 onthe end walls 28 are then folded upwardly about the score lines 46 andthe end walls 28 are folded upwardly about the score lines 30. The lowerportion of each extension 46, outwardly of the notch 54, is then foldedupwardly about the score line 60 as is clearly illustrated in Figure'9,permitting this lower portion of the extension to be passed over the topof the now assembled side wall 32. The extension 46 is then foldedinwardly along the score line 56 and the portion below the score line 60is moved downwardly to elminate the fold about the score line 60 and theouter portion of the extension is then folded about the then verticalscore line 58. As the folds about the score lines 48, 56 and 58 arecompleted, the projection 50 is moved into the notch 37 of the sideprojection 36 and into the aperture 52, and it will be seen that theextension 46 then co-operates with the projection 36 on the side wall 32and with the projecting portion 64 of the end wall 28 to provide atriangularly shaped post at each corner of the container. Each extension46, in addition to being held in assembled position by the engagement ofthe projection 50 in the aperture 52, is further secured in position bysnapping the adjacent locking portion 76 upwardly and inwardly out ofthe planes of the bottom 26 and side 28, from the position illustratedin Figure 9 to the position best illustrated in Figures 3 through 6, inwhich it securely holds the extension 46 in assembled position. Theassembly of the container is completed by folding the end wall portions68 inwardly about the score lines 66 and moving the locking tabs 72upwardly out of the plane of the bottom 26 to the positions bestillustrated in Figure 3. In this position the apertures 70 are aligned.as illustrated in Figure 3 to provide hand grips.

These containers 22, by virture of the strong corner post constructionprovided at each of the four corners, may be readily stacked, asillustrated in Figure 1 and when so stacked, air may readily circulateto the contents of the containers because of the reduced height of theside walls and end walls intermediate the corner posts. These containersare particularly useful for freezing food. As an example, two largeturkeys may be placed in a container constructed as above described andthe containers stacked in freezing compartments. When the containers areremoved from the freezing compartment, a suitable cover such as thecover 94, illustrated in Figure 10, may be placed over the containeraudit will be supported on the corner posts.

As illustrated in Figure 10 at 96, a place may be provided for markingthe weight of the contents of the container and the cover 94 may beformed with shallow ends 98 so that the marking may be read while thecover is in place.

Figures 11 through 17, inclusive, illustrate a modified form of thecontainer which may include readily removable partitions and does notinclude an auxiliary or reinforcing bottom sheet such as the sheet 24 ofthe embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 through 10,inclusive.

Referring to Figure 16, the sheet there illustrated may similarly beformed of a suitably solid or corrugated paper-board and includes abottom 126, end walls 128 at opposite ends thereof and separated fromthe bottom 126 by score lines 130, and side walls 132 at opposite sidesof the bottom 126 and separated therefrom by score lines 134. The sidewalls 132 have projections 136 at their opposite ends which are providedwith notches 137 disposed at the ends of the side walls 132. The sidewalls 132 are also provided with generally centrally disposed scorelines 138 extending between the projections 136 and parallel to thescore'lines 134 which are at the juncture of the sides 132 with thebottom 126 outwardly of the score lines 138 and side wall portions 140.The bottom 126 is die-cut adjacent the score lines 134 to provide tabs144.

The end walls 128 are provided with extensions 146 at their oppositeends which are separated therefrom by score lines 148 and are providedwith projections 150 at their outer ends. Adjacent the score lines 148the extensions 146 are provided with apertures 152 which are similar inshape to the shape of the projections 150. Each of the projections 146,at the side thereof adjacent the side walls 132, has a V-shaped notch154 and is provided with a score line 156 extending from the inner endof the notch 154 across the extension 146 to the opposite side thereofand parallel to the score line 158. Each extension 146 is also providedwith a third score line 158 disposed outwardly of the notch 154 andparallel to the score lines 156 and 148.

Each of the end walls 128 has its central portion cut down as indicatedat 162 to provide projections 164 at its opposite ends. Adjacent to eachof the four corners of the bottom 126, is a locking portion 176 formedby a pair of spaced parallel die-cuts 178 which extend across the scorelines 130, the opposite ends of which are connected by score lines 180.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 11 through 17,inclusive, a pair of partition members 182 may be die-cut from theportion of the sheet 120 outwardly of the side walls 132, as is shown inFigure 16. A third partition member 184 is illustrated in Figure '17 andis provided with notches 186 for assembly of the partition members 182therewith in a conventional manner, these members 182 being providedwith co-operating notches 188. r

In forming the container, the side walls 132 are folded upwardly aboutthe score lines 134 and the side wall portions are folded inwardly aboutthe score lines 138 against the then lower portions of the side wall 132and the locking tabs 144 are pressed upwardly to the positionillustrated in Figure 12.

The end walls 128 are then folded upwardly about the score lines 130 andthe end wall extensions 146 folded inwardly about the score lines 148.During this movement, the end wall extensions 146 are also folded aboutthe score lines 156 to move the side wall 132 into the V-shaped notch154 so that the bottom portion of the end wall projection 146, outwardlyof the notch 154, is received inside the side wall 132 as is clearlyillustrated in Figure 15. The folding of the end wall extensions 146about the score lines 148, 156 and 158 is then completed so that theprojection is moved through the notch 137 and into the aperture 152. Tohold the projection 150 in the aperture 152 and maintain the end wallextension 146 in the folded position illustrated in Figures 11, 12 and13, the adjacent locking portion 176 is then snapped upwardly andinwardly from the position illustrated in Figure 15 in the planes of thebottom 126 and end wall 128, to the position illustrated in Figures 11,12 and 13. The partition members 182 and 184 may then be assembled andplaced in the container in the position illustrated in Figures 11, 12and 13. In this embodiment of the invention, the weight of the contentsof the box may be marked in a place provided on the outer surface of theend wall 128 and a cover 194 of generally conventional construction maybe provided with an aperture 196 through which the marking on thecontainer may be viewed.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the partitions illustrated maybe eliminated or modified in any desired way to provide the desiredcompartments. A container of the above described construction, with thepartition members illustrated, may be used, for example, to contain sixmedium sized chickens.

The above references to chickens and turkeys with reference to thesecontainers are, of course, for illustrative purposes only.

While only two specific embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described in detail herein, it will be readilyappreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications andchanges may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A container comprising a single sheet of die-cut material providing abottom, side walls at each side of said bottom, end walls at each end ofsaid bottom, extensions at certain of the ends of said walls scored andfolded and co-operating wth the adjacent portion of said certain of saidends to form posts extending upwardly from the four corners of saidbottom, and means holding said extensions folded in said post form, theends of said walls other than said certain of said ends havingprojections about which said extensions are folded and which form a partof said posts.

2. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said extensionshas a slot adjacent to the wall from which it extends and has a lockingportion at its end which is received in said slot when said extension isfolded to said post form and wherein said projections have notchesaligned with said slots and receiving said locking portion when saidextension is folded to said post form.

3. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein each said extension isdivided by said scoring into three parallel sections extendingtransversely of the wall from which the extension extends and whereinsaid posts formed by said extensions are triangular in shape.

4. A container comprising a single sheet of die-cut material providing abottom, side walls at each side of said bottom, end walls at each end ofsaid bottom, extensions at certain of the ends of said walls scored andfolded and co-operating with the adjacent portion of said certain ofsaid ends to form posts extending upwardly from the four corners of saidbottom, and means holding said extensions folded in said post form, eachof said extensions having a slot adjacent to the wall from which itextends and hav- 6 ing a locking portion at its end which is received insaid slot when said extension is folded to said post form.

5. A container comprising a single sheet of die-cut material providing abottom, side walls at each side of said bottom, end walls at each end ofsaid bottom, extensions at certain of the ends of said walls scored andfolded and co-operating with the adjacent portion of said certain ofsaid ends to form posts extending upwardly from the four corners of saidbottom, and means holding said extensions folded in said post form, saidextensions at the sides thereof adjacent to the ends of said walls otherthan said certain of said ends having V-shaped notches, each of whichreceives a wall adjacent to the wall carrying the extension in which itis formed.

6. A container as defined in claim 5, wherein each of said extensionsare scored to provide score lines extending transversely thereofincluding a score line extending from the inner end of said V-shapednotch to the side opposite to the side in which said notch is formed andanother score line extending from the inner end of said notch at rightangles to said score line out to the outer end of said extension.

7. A container comprising a single sheet of die-cut material providing abottom, side walls at each side of said bottom, end walls at each end ofsaid botttom, extensions at certain of the ends of said walls scored andfolded and co-operating with the adjacent portion of said certain ofsaid ends to form posts extending upwardly from the four corners of saidbottom, and means holding said extensions folded in said post form, anauxiliary bottom sheet overlying at least a portion of said bottom andhaving upwardly extending flanges overlying the lower portions of theinner surfaces of said side walls, said auxiliary bottom sheet beinglanced adjacent said flanges to provide locking edge surfaces and saidside walls of said single sheet being scored parallel to said bottom toprovide inner wall sections having locking projections, said inner wallsections being folded inwardly over said flanges to engage said lockingprojections with said locking edge surfaces.

8. A container as defined in claim 7, wherein said auxiliary bottomsheet has a scored and folded portion providing an upwardly extendingpartition extending across the container.

9. A container as defined in claim 8, wherein said partition extendsbetween said side walls and said inner wall sections are notched toreceive said partition during said folding of said inner wall portionsinwardly over said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,471,478 Feigelman Oct. 23, 1923 1,494,531 Corcoran May 20, 19241,653,116 Parks Dec. 20, 1927 2,844,293 Whitney July 22, 1958 FOREIGNPATENTS 276,043 Great Britain Aug. 15, 1927 725,809 Great Britain Mar.9, 1955 533,395 Canada NOV. 20, 1956

